Competitive Strategies

Responding to increasing demand from the independent sales organizations that distribute its ATMs, Fremont, Calif.-based Tranax Technologies Inc. is planning to introduce a low-end multifunction machine toward the end of the year that will combine conventional cash dispensing with typical kiosk functions like ticket and gift-card sales and check cashing …

The parade of major ATM deployers out of the business of owning and managing ATM networks continues with the announcement that eFunds Corp., Scottsdale, Ariz., is selling its fleet of 17,200 machines, which are under merchant contracts in the U.S. and Canada, to Portland, Ore.-based TRM Corp. for $150 million …

Nashville-based iPayment Inc., a publicly held independent sales organization that has executed a string of acquisitions over the past two years in the rapidly consolidating acquiring market, today announced its acquisition of Transaction Solutions LLC, a Pittsburgh-based ISO serving 4,000 small merchants with $500 million in annual card volume. No …

Dexit Inc., a Toronto-based processor of stored-value transactions using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, is expanding nationally in Canada and will begin processing transactions in other parts of the world next year?but not in the U.S. any time soon. Dexit, which allows consumers to use chip-embedded keychain “tags” to tap accounts …

Magex Ltd., a London-based e-commerce and person-to-person transaction processor, has acquired Open Payment Technologies Inc., a provider of stored-value card systems to restaurants, supermarkets, and other merchants. A price was not disclosed. Phoenix-based OPT will become a division of Magex, and Dave Ingwersen, OPT's president, is assuming the title of …

MasterCard International reports that 7 million of its 545 million debit cards linked to personal identification numbers worldwide are now enabled for use with SecureCode, the card network's security program for Internet transactions on credit and debit cards. Most of this activity is in Europe. MasterCard says some 5,800 Web …

Despite widespread industry perceptions that 3D Secure technologies are rendering proxy payment numbers obsolete, the primary vendor of such single-use-number technology says its system remains highly attractive to card issuers looking for ways to encourage customers to spend on the Internet. “I feel very bullish about our product,” says Diane …

The arrests announced yesterday by the federal government in an operation directed against e-commerce fraud is cause for optimism, but there's still plenty to keep online merchants up at night, according to a key executive who helped carry out the latest law-enforcement action. The government's Operation Websnare led to the …

John Barrett, a 16-year veteran of MCI Corp., has joined First Data Corp. to run the processor's merchant-sales operations through independent sales organizations and sales agents. In his position as senior vice president for FDC's third-party sales channel, Barrett will have responsibility for all merchant-sales efforts through third parties at …

PayPal isn't likely to be the last new payment channel Retail Decisions USA Inc. adds to its transaction products for online merchants. The Hazlet, New Jersey-based unit of Retail Decisions PLC in the U.K. announced earlier this month it was adding PayPal acceptance to its transaction-processing software, LiveProcessor, and its …